The Department of Transportation finally addresses backup accidents.

A final rule Monday by the US Department of Transportation will require all vehicles under 10,000 pounds to have rearview cameras by May 2018 in order to mitigate the damages caused by backup accidents. The mandate comes after years of delaying the regulatory review, which was supposed to be completed by 2011.

The standard was originally signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2008 to go into effect by the end of 2011. The regulatory review was delayed in February 2012 until the end of 2012 and then delayed again indefinitely.

According to ABC News, 50 children were backed over by a vehicle every week around the time of reporting, and one or two of those were killed. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 210 people die annually from getting backed over.

The field of view of the rearview cameras must cover an area of 10 feet by 20 feet, and there will be spec requirements including "image size, linger time, response time, durability, and deactivation." The NHTSA estimates that the monetary benefit of the ruling will be between $265 and $396 million, thanks to both avoided fatalities and property damage.

349 Reader Comments

E: The vast majority of these accidents occur when people do not bother checking behind them at all. If they can't be bothered to look in a mirror, why are we expecting them to bother looking at a screen instead?

I wish they'd make fog lights a toggle switch for all cars, and a different color for turn signals (one less active brake light when a signal is active). Hell, I'd wish they make rear fog lights cause when it really is foggy out, rear tail lights don't cut it!

Nowadays thanks to lit up instrument panels and DRLs, the amount of people driving with no headlamps on is getting worse. And no one seems to be cracking down on assholes in trucks with 50w HID headlamps that can't handle all that extra light, and of course they add HID fog lamps blinding everyone on the road.

Can't we fix that first instead of mandating a stupid feature to drive up the cost of a car around $500? Heck, they don't offer much more of a view for where those children are that do end up being killed.

I'm wondering if this is mostly to reduce insurance claims/cases than to out right reduce fatalities? Think about how many parking lot accidents are caused because people can't see others backing up, or that someone's driving over 35mph/60kph in a parking lot.

I wonder which car manufacturer's lobbyists were most responsible for the delay of this mandate?

It seems painfully obvious that this should have been mandated years ago. If we can put two digital cameras in nearly every smartphone, it could not be that difficult to require backup cameras in every vehicle to save lives.

I'm wondering if this is mostly to reduce insurance claims/cases than to out right reduce fatalities? Think about how many parking lot accidents are caused because people can't see others backing up, or that someone's driving over 35mph/60kph in a parking lot.

I have had a couple times where my car's camera has saved me from a collision when backing out of a parking spot (next to some ridiculously long duelie or other vision obstructor) and having some evil reckless asshole speed past.

I'm wondering if this is mostly to reduce insurance claims/cases than to out right reduce fatalities? Think about how many parking lot accidents are caused because people can't see others backing up, or that someone's driving over 35mph/60kph in a parking lot.

I wish people that can see me backing out of a parking space would quit driving behind me anyway.

I'm wondering if this is mostly to reduce insurance claims/cases than to out right reduce fatalities? Think about how many parking lot accidents are caused because people can't see others backing up, or that someone's driving over 35mph/60kph in a parking lot.

I have had a couple times where my car's camera has saved me from a collision when backing out of a parking spot (next to some ridiculously long duelie or other vision obstructor) and having some evil reckless asshole speed past.

What a coincidence, I've had a couple times where my car's existing mirrors did the exact same thing!

210? Like someone said, I don't want to make light of a single death but 210 out of 40,000? How many lives would we save if the US had German style driver licensing testing, and strict lane discipline on freeways? Many more. So what gives? Why do we hand over car keys to anyone who asks, basically? Why are US freeways a free-for-all?

Also. How many assholes in big trucks have added on cop bumpers in the front and a foot long trailer hitch for their redneck speedboat? Those things kill way more people than backup accidents. We spend all kinds of time effort and money to test car crash safety and then drivers are allowed to buy sub $100 accessories to put on their cars which completely negate the point of the bumpers. Boggles.

I wonder which car manufacturer's lobbyists were most responsible for the delay of this mandate?

It seems painfully obvious that this should have been mandated years ago. If we can put two digital cameras in nearly every smartphone, it could not be that difficult to require backup cameras in every vehicle to save lives.

Why do you think they would care? An item like this only increases the per-unit manufacturing cost, which is something that is easily passed along to the consumer in the price of the vehicle. It doesn't affect their profits.

How much will Americans spend to save 210 people per year? It may sound cold, but if it exceeds $500 million annually, it simply isn't worth the cost. There are many preventable deaths and I'd wager we could prevent many more with fewer resources in other ways.

I'm wondering if this is mostly to reduce insurance claims/cases than to out right reduce fatalities? Think about how many parking lot accidents are caused because people can't see others backing up, or that someone's driving over 35mph/60kph in a parking lot.

I have had a couple times where my car's camera has saved me from a collision when backing out of a parking spot (next to some ridiculously long duelie or other vision obstructor) and having some evil reckless asshole speed past.

What a coincidence, I've had a couple times where my car's existing mirrors did the exact same thing!

Everybody on the Internet is sooo fucking clever.

I guess you missed the part where I mentioned the vision obstruction next to me, Mr Sarcastic Pants.

edit: Backup cameras have fish-eyed lens (at least mine does) located on the back of the vehicle. You know, past the obstruction blocking my car's existing mirrors. Jesus.

Viewing the world through a giant windshield isn't enough to prevent some people from driving like idiots, so I'm sort of struggling to understand why they think the small, grainy image from a backup cam will make any difference.

I wonder which car manufacturer's lobbyists were most responsible for the delay of this mandate?

It seems painfully obvious that this should have been mandated years ago. If we can put two digital cameras in nearly every smartphone, it could not be that difficult to require backup cameras in every vehicle to save lives.

Why do you think they would care? An item like this only increases the per-unit manufacturing cost, which is something that is easily passed along to the consumer in the price of the vehicle. It doesn't affect their profits.

Car manufacturers know that adding any cost to the bottom line will drive away consumers. If they are not forced to put this component system into the vehicle, it keeps the price of the vehicle down.

Generally most industries are not bullish on regulation, even if the regulation is for the greater good. However small that good might be.

Running over a child (or anyone, really) is beyond awful, but to me there is a certain sense of responsibility of a driver when operating a vehicle. People need to pay attention, and all of the sensors on a car won't do that if a driver won't give driving the attention it requires.

Running over a child (or anyone, really), but to me there is a certain sense of responsibility of a driver when operating a vehicle. People need to pay attention, and all of the sensors on a car won't do that if a driver won't give driving the attention it requires.

Why would you force more responsibility on people and make it much more difficult to obtain and maintain a driver's license when you can instead install a bunch of overpriced gear to act as a digital driving babysitter, passing on the costs to the consumer? Everyone wins!

I'm wondering if this is mostly to reduce insurance claims/cases than to out right reduce fatalities? Think about how many parking lot accidents are caused because people can't see others backing up, or that someone's driving over 35mph/60kph in a parking lot.

I have had a couple times where my car's camera has saved me from a collision when backing out of a parking spot (next to some ridiculously long duelie or other vision obstructor) and having some evil reckless asshole speed past.

What a coincidence, I've had a couple times where my car's existing mirrors did the exact same thing!

Everybody on the Internet is sooo fucking clever.

I guess you missed the part where I mentioned the vision obstruction next to me, Mr Sarcastic Pants.

And your magic camera somehow pulled beams of light through the solid objects that your mirrors could not see?

(Hint: adjust your damn mirrors.)

Adjust my mirrors. Why the hell didn't I think of that.

I will adjust them waaaayy back, past the long obstacle RIGHT NEXT TO ME, in order to see down the lane perpendicular to the direction I am parked.

Here's a hint: the camera is on the BACK of the car, equipped with a fish-eye lens, able to see damn near 180 degrees.

While it may save lives, it HAS to increase cost for making the car, just as airbags and seatbelts do.

No one argues against the effectiveness of these measures, but if people want to select a vehicle that lacks some of these safety features in exchange for being cheaper, I believe that they should have that right.

I'm wondering if this is mostly to reduce insurance claims/cases than to out right reduce fatalities? Think about how many parking lot accidents are caused because people can't see others backing up, or that someone's driving over 35mph/60kph in a parking lot.

I have had a couple times where my car's camera has saved me from a collision when backing out of a parking spot (next to some ridiculously long duelie or other vision obstructor) and having some evil reckless asshole speed past.

What a coincidence, I've had a couple times where my car's existing mirrors did the exact same thing!

Everybody on the Internet is sooo fucking clever.

I guess you missed the part where I mentioned the vision obstruction next to me, Mr Sarcastic Pants.

And your magic camera somehow pulled beams of light through the solid objects that your mirrors could not see?

(Hint: adjust your damn mirrors.)

Presumably a camera would be mounted on or near your rear bumper. There is a huge blind spot at the back of your car which your mirrors couldn't possibly hope to see.

That said, I'm dubious about the value of this. When I reverse my car, I turn my head around and look out the back window. I think trying to reverse while staring at a 10" screen would be a lot harder.

I'm wondering if this is mostly to reduce insurance claims/cases than to out right reduce fatalities? Think about how many parking lot accidents are caused because people can't see others backing up, or that someone's driving over 35mph/60kph in a parking lot.

I have had a couple times where my car's camera has saved me from a collision when backing out of a parking spot (next to some ridiculously long duelie or other vision obstructor) and having some evil reckless asshole speed past.

What a coincidence, I've had a couple times where my car's existing mirrors did the exact same thing!

Everybody on the Internet is sooo fucking clever.

I guess you missed the part where I mentioned the vision obstruction next to me, Mr Sarcastic Pants.

And your magic camera somehow pulled beams of light through the solid objects that your mirrors could not see?

(Hint: adjust your damn mirrors.)

Mirrors are on the side of your vehicle, camera at the tail end. You generally can get a peak out in the parking lot before you see in your mirrors.

Driving lots of rental vehicles, I'd say this should be a requirement of all new cars since 99% of them have horrific blind spots as they have put form over function.

Lives are certainly important, but as someone else mentioned this may have a significant impact on insurance. Judging by the number of cars I see with dents in the bumper, backing into something isn't exactly uncommon. Perhaps this was an insurance lobby vs. car lobby fight that was won by insurance companies?

210? Like someone said, I don't want to make light of a single death but 210 out of 40,000?

It doesn't mention how many were seriously injured. 40k is a significant number, and I think it's misleading to look at the number of deaths since most of these accidents happen at very low speeds. Since getting a bumper replaced after backing into a stone wall will set you back more than the camera costs, it seems like a fine investment even if you're not planning to kill anyone.

So they'll spend years deliberating on what to do about something that causes 210 deaths a year (not even a blip on the number of deaths each year) that will add a not-insignificant cost to every new vehicle, but there are still people out there getting their 3rd and 4th DUI?

Why not just put the backup "beep" sensors in every car instead? Much cheaper and arguably more effective (you don't have to look at the screen to hear the beep).

This! I never use the backup camera in my vehicle as using it means I am not looking out the back of my window like I'm supposed to be.

It doesn't have to be one or the other. My vehicle has the sensors (which can false in freezing rain / snow), a camera (which can be cloudy), mirrors, and I can turn and look. Using all of these makes me safer, which I appreciate since I have small kids in my neighborhood and a very long and narrow driveway to back out of or into.

Edit: Also I can turn them all off if I want, which I guess could include folding my mirrors in